In the early hours of this morning, another World Touring Car Championship race was held at the Okayama circuit, Japan, in which the Repsol drivers have added another podium finish, thanks to the performance, on this occasion, of Yvan Muller. In extremely adverse weather conditions, the Repsol drivers have achieved the goal of maintaining leadership of the championship, with just one more event left; in Macau, which will be held on 22 November and which will decide the championship.
Heavy rain and poor circuit conditions caused many incidents in both races, particularly affecting the SEAT team drivers, who wear Repsol’s colours in the World Touring Car Championship. Gabriele Tarquini, who started from pole position in the first round, run off the track, dropping to eighth place. Rickard Rydell took over from him in the leading group, but slid into Jorg Muller and was forced to pit, returning to the track a few minutes later. Then, Andy Priaulx took control of the race, followed by Jorg Muller, and Jordi Gené in third. The Repsol driver finally finished sixth, behind Yvan Muller and Gabriele Tarquini, who drove extremely carefully in order to try and secure as many points as possible.
Incidents, involving many cars, continued to occur in the second race under torrential rain. Monteiro started from the front line, but forced by Jorg Muller, soon ran off the track, as did Tarquini, who did so in order to avoid touching other drivers. The Repsol driver lost many of his options due to this incident, returning to the track in seventeenth place. From there, he started an impressive recovery, which allowed him to finish seventh, also thanks to the good work of Gené and Rydell.
On a circuit that favoured cars with rear-wheel drive, the Repsol drivers managed to keep their options to win the championship open, particularly in the drivers’ standings, in which Tarquini and Muller still hold the first two places, with high expectations for the final race of the year. Tarquini was not very lucky today, whereas Muller, with excellent consistency and efficiency, and a podium finish in the second race, is now just a step away from the leadership.
After the race in Japan, Tarquini continues to head the drivers’ standings with 115 points, two points clear of Muller with 113 and third is Augusto Farfus with 102.These are the three drivers who will battle for the 2009 World Championship title in Macau. SEAT continues to head the manufacturers’ standings, but its lead over BMW has been reduced by three points.
